In a recent ruling, a Lucknow court has directed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh to pay Rs 1 lakh in damages to former Uttar Pradesh minister Mahendra Singh in a defamation case. Civil Judge (Senior Division) Kamla Kant Gupta issued the order, demanding the AAP MP to pay the damages within two months. Failure to comply will result in a six per cent interest imposed on the amount.
Sanjay Singh, currently incarcerated in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam case, was served notice by the court but did not respond, leading to the court proceeding ex parte against him.
The allegations stemmed from an August 2021 press conference in Lucknow, where the AAP leader accused Mahendra Singh, the then Jal Shakti minister of Uttar Pradesh, of engaging in corruption during the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission.
Mahendra Singh retaliated by filing a civil defamation suit against the AAP MP, seeking Rs 21 lakh in damages. Alongside the monetary penalty, the court directed Sanjay Singh to remove videos and printed materials related to his remarks from social media platforms.
Meanwhile, AAP’s national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal declined to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding the Delhi excise policy case. This decision drew criticism from the BJP, which accused Kejriwal of abandoning his party colleagues, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh.
The ED summoned Kejriwal on January 3 in connection with the case, but reports indicate his reluctance to appear before the investigating agency. Earlier, Kejriwal had dismissed two prior summons, labeling them “illegal and politically motivated.”
Dhairya Saraswat